LIS 6511
Community Needs Assessment
Related Learning Outcome
I.c. Students participate in professional and community engagement activities in the field.
Artifact Overview
This community needs assessment analyzed the collections and instructional needs of the Central East Hillsborough Elementary Professional Learning Community (PLC). Using data collected from participating schools, the assessment examined enrollment, student demographics, collection size, average publication dates, budget capacity, and survey responses from school library media specialists. Rather than focusing on a single library, the project identified regional patterns and opportunities for collaboration, including aging STEAM-related nonfiction collections, uneven purchasing power, and shared collection development priorities.
I selected this artifact for Outcome I.c because it demonstrates my participation in professional engagement activities within the school library profession. The project required me to collaborate with fellow library media specialists through my district PLC to collect data, analyze common challenges, and consider strategies for strengthening library services across multiple schools. By engaging with colleagues to identify shared needs and explore collaborative approaches to collection development and resource sharing, this project reflects the importance of professional learning communities in improving library services and advancing the profession.
Project Note: This research proposal was completed as a collaborative project for LIS 6511. For portfolio publication, I edited the document to protect my project partner's privacy by replacing my project partner's name with a general identifier, "Student 1." The portfolio version preserves the substance of the original project, including the contribution section, while removing personally identifying information for my project partner.